UCL Picks: Bank on Robert Lewandowski, Mohamed Salah To Score

The betting strategy for the UEFA Champions League can be very simple at times.

Simple may not be the sexy way, but it is the smart process since some of Europe's top clubs and players shine on the biggest stage.

Robert Lewandowski and Mohamed Salah have been two of the best scorers in European play over the past few seasons and they carry solid odds to find the back of the net on Tuesday.

Lewandowski's former club, Bayern Munich, is the largest favorite on the board, but there are still a few ways to bet on the German side because of the abundance of scorers it has in its lineup.

Tuesday UCL Picks

Overall Soccer Record: 33-34 (9-9 UCL)

Bayern Munich vs. Viktoria Plzen (12:45 p.m. ET)

Leroy Sane To Score (+120)

Jamal Musiala To Score (+130)

Bayern Munich Team Total Over 3.5 (-115)

Consider this a betting warmup for the rest of the UCL slate.

Bayern Munich will beat Viktoria Plzen, and probably beat them by multiple goals, but there is still some value on the board because Bayern does not have a world-class striker up top, like it has with Robert Lewandowski, in previous seasons.

In fact, Bayern's top scorer across all competitions sits at plus-money to score against the Czech side on Tuesday.

Jamal Musiala produced a goal and two assists in Friday's Bundesliga win over Bayer Leverkusen. The 19-year-old has scored against Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt in domestic play and he notched an assist against Barcelona in the last UCL group-stage game.

Leroy Sane is tied for second on Bayern's scoring chart with Sadio Mane on six goals. Sane is also listed at a plus-money price to score despite finding the back of the net against Inter and Barcelona to start the UCL campaign.

Bayern's players are also at an advantage on Tuesday because they played on Friday. The extra day of rest could help them get going quicker inside their home stadium.

Bayern scored four or more goals in five matches this season. Plzen gave up five on the road at Barcelona on Matchday 1. I fully expect Bayern's attacking firepower to be on display as it tries to pad its lead atop Group C in points and in goal differential.

Marseille vs. Sporting CP (+215) (12:45 p.m. ET)

This pick is a combination of a Marseille fade in the UCL and riding Sporting's terrific play in the competition this season.

Marseille has lost 16 of its last 17 matches in the Champions League and it failed to score in 11 of those contests, including the first two group-stage games this season.

Sporting comes into France with wins over Eintracht Frankfurt and Tottenham, both of which occurred through second-half game-winners.

Sporting has yet to concede in the group stage. Bayern, Barcelona and Club Brugge are the other teams with perfect defensive records.

The Portuguese side has four clean sheets in its last six games across all competitions and it comes into Tuesday with far more confidence in the UCL compared to Marseille.

Marseille is second in Ligue 1, but it has been unable to get over the mental hurdle of winning in the group stage so far and that could plague the French side again on Tuesday.

Inter Milan vs. Barcelona (3 p.m. ET)

Robert Lewandowski To Score (-120)

I'm betting on Robert Lewandowski to score in the UCL at -120 any time it is offered.

The Polish forward opened his UCL campaign with Barcelona by scoring a hat-trick against Plzen. He did not score against Bayern, but he can get back on track on Tuesday.

Inter's defense has not been great across all competitions. The Italian side allowed multiple goals in five of 10 matches in domestic and continental play.

Inter conceded two goals and a 1.6 expected goals against when Bayern came into the San Siro on Matchday 1. Three of Inter's five home opponents this season have had a xGA of 0.7 or above.

Barcelona's xG has been over two in eight of nine matches played this season. Barca is a chance-creating machine and Lewandowski will likely be on the end of a few of them in Milan.

Liverpool vs. Rangers (3 p.m. ET)

Mohamed Salah To Score (-130)

Apply the exact same logic from the Lewandowski reasoning to Mohamed Salah.

Salah scored on Matchday 2 against Ajax and he needs to make his presence known against Rangers, a team Liverpool should beat by multiple goals.

Rangers sit on the bottom of Group A with seven goals conceded and none scored. Napoli and Ajax beat the Scottish side by multiple goals. Both teams had a xG over two.

Liverpool needs an easy European night to get back on track and Salah is the perfect player to guide it to that result.

Ajax vs. Napoli (3 p.m. ET)

Over 2.5 Goals (-160)

Ajax and Napoli hit the over 2.5 in each of their first two group stage contests.

Both teams have had the over hit in seven of their 10 games across all competitions. Napoli is 4-1 to the Over 2.5 in its last five matches.

Ajax has a bit more motivation to score on Tuesday because it comes into the match on a rare three-game winless run that started with a Matchday 2 loss to Liverpool.

The Dutch side is facing a Napoli defense whose xGA has been over one in five of 10 matches.

All of the numbers suggest that Ajax-Napoli should be the most free-flowing and competitive match on Tuesday's slate. There's plenty of meaning attached to it as well since the winner will have an edge in advancing out of Group A.


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